Resource Management and Geography - Theses
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ItemThe disposal choices for small household electrical appliances in Linfen, China( 2017)There is minimal literature on how small household electronic appliances are being disposed post-consumer use despite the risk of environmental pollution that can arise from the improper disposal of these items. Larger electronic waste items and mobile phones have been more extensively researched and as a result a wider availability of disposal options are available for these items. China imports significant quantities of electronic waste items from around the world while its own large population is rapidly consuming more electronic items every year, which together results in a high rate of small household appliances being disposed that has not yet been investigated. This research thesis investigated how small household electronic waste are being disposed by households in China. Research on small household electronic waste has typically been concerned with the components of sWEEE rather than its disposal. Of the limited disposal studies of these items that have been undertaken in Europe, results show that individuals are most commonly storing the items, disposing of these items in their household general waste bin, or recycling them through collection schemes. Results for mobile phone disposal across Europe, Japan China are similar. Household surveys and semi-structured interviews were used to collect results and assess whether similar disposal trends are being used for small household electrical waste in a small prefectural-level city in China. In particular, the household bin was the most popular disposal choice for all items and irrespective of any age, education, gender or income. Informal collectors and storage in the home were the second and third most popular disposal choices and the use of these alternative disposal streams differed depending on the item. The choice by households to dispose of small household electronic waste in the bin is the result of few disposal choices for households, the cheap retail price of these items, and a lack of information that leads them to choosing the convenient choice of putting the item in their nearest disposal choice which is the household bin. Improvements to recycle small household electronic waste will need to be delivered through amendments to existing government regulation and the introduction of new government recycling schemes.